YO GUYS! nothing much to say other than that THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! even though its considerably lesser than last time, i still appreciate them.

Anyway, i may be slow in updating cuz i'm currently working on two stories at one go. This story, and another one about 'last of us' So i may be bit slow. And i have school and stuff.

Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! R&R AND ENJOY! :D

Nico's POV

"Where's Percy?" I asked Thalia as we walked towards the meeting point, which was at downtown today. She looked surprised, as though she had just realized that Percy was missing.

"Oh yea, Percy!" She exclaimed, as though she had forgotten about him. I scowled at the realization that I also noticed it only a minute ago that he hadn't been around us for the whole day. "Haven't seen him since the period before lunch. Must be busy or something." She suggested. Her voice was monotonous, but her frown told otherwise.

"Now that I think of it, He and Micheal hadn't even said a single word to each other ever since Micheal came back."

"Well, they could've talked when we weren't there." I replied. She pondered over it for a moment, and then shook her head.

"As far as I remember, we've been with Micheal for the whole day, and not once have we seen Percy whenever he's around except in class." Confusion filled my mind.

I had thought that Percy would be the happiest person to see Micheal, but now, when I think about it…

"Percy may have been avoiding him…" I muttered. Thalia perked up at the suggestion, and replayed the day's events in her mind. Class, when they didn't even see each other in the eye, lunch where Percy didn't join them…He even skipped the classes after lunch.

"Maybe…" She agreed, nodding her head. "Wonder why though…" She said to herself, her eyes glazed over as her mind ran through whatever crazy imagination it held.

"Hey-" I said, lightly rapping the side of her head with a knuckle, but before I could continue, she jumped back, startled, her hands poised in front of her as though she was ready to fight. When I saw her reaction, I burst out laughing. She glared at me fiercely, relaxing her hands slowly.

"Sorry! Sorry! Didn't know you were thinking that deep." I said in an apologetic, yet amused tone. She huffed.

"Better not do that next time, Death Breath," She growled. "Anyway, what did you want to say?"

"Just wanted to stop your imagination from running wild. Don't come up with too many assumptions just yet." I told her.

"Whoever told you I was doing that?" She asked in a defiant tone.

"It was obvious."

"No, it wasn't even true."

"You can't lie to me."

"I'm not lying. How do you even know I'm lying?"

"'cause I know you." I retorted with a wide grin. I was pleased with my efforts when I saw a light blush surface onto her cheeks. She scowled, annoyed by her reaction and her feelings of embarrassment.

"Yea, whatever. I was thinking that maybe they fought over what song was the best. Or maybe over which football club was better. Or maybe even because they're in different gangs-if they are in gangs. Who knows, it may even have something to do with Rachel. Maybe Rachel had se-" She spouted out all the assumptions from her whacked-out brain that made me dizzy.

"Stop, stop! I don't need to hear any more crazy nonsense." I exclaimed dramatically, pushing the palms of my hands against my ears, covering them. I could feel her glare, and chuckled teasingly, tensing my body for a hit.

As I expected, a hit did come. She always hit me playfully whenever I teased her over something, but her hits were quite painful and stings a little. I'd never tell her that though- that may make her feel guilty. She doesn't know her own strength.

If it was any other boy who wasn't in the Weapon Art Class, they'd probably be cursing and swearing, 'cause they rarely feel the pain of having a wooden practice weapon hitting you with full force. What's more, Thalia had exceptional strength compared to others. Maybe except Percy and a few others.

"Shut up." Her voice sounded distorted, due to my covering of my ears. I smirked at her as I let go of my hands.

"Has that crazy thing called your mouth stopped spitting random, retarded assumptions yet?" I teased. She rolled her eyes.

"You want more?" She asked with a very wide smile that caused me shivers down my spine. It was really creepy, and coming from this scary girl, it was also very frightening. Knowing her, her next few assumptions would probably scar my brain and imagination for life.

"Uh, no thanks." I hastily declined, speeding up to get away from her so that I would not be able to hear her

"Slow down! Damn you!" She swore as she sped up to catch up with me. A few seconds later, it was a full-blown race to the meeting point. Even though the streets were awfully crowded, and there was about a 99% chance that we would knock into someone with every single step, we still did it.

After all, they had good reflexes, and no one said that that had to be used in sports and fighting all the time, right?

"Feels so good to be back with you guys!" Micheal announced exuberantly, spreading his arms wide and giving us a large grin. Several of the gang laughed and replied that they missed him too. Some just smiled, while others (like Clarice) rolled their eyes at his antics.

"Well, what are we eating today? I'm starving!" Grover asked impatiently. We then heard a loud growl from his stomach. The surroundings exploded with sounds of laughter and snorts. Grover's face was as red as a tomato.

"D-damnit! Hurry up!" He stammered, trying to hide his embarrassment with frustration, but to no avail. He was a really lousy actor.

"Alright, alright," I said. "We'll eat Jack's place. Sound good?" I asked the rest of the gang. They all nodded, agreeing with me. I looked at Grover, and noticed the slightly disgusted look on his face.

"That place has really good vegetables…but there's so much stinking steaks there…" he complained in a whiny voice. We all sweat-dropped at that comment.

"Go wear some nose plugs." Thalia suggested. Grover's brows scrunched up.

"I would, but then I would taste the boiling steak as I have to breath through my mouth."

"That makes absolutely no sense, goatboy."

"It does! Sometimes, when I breathe in through my mouth, I can literally taste the smell in the air!"

"…Lets just go." Thalia gave up. Grover was as stubborn as a mule. Not any people could beat him. Grover could sense that the others didn't agree with him, but were too lazy to argue. Because of that, he grumbled all the way from the meeting point to Jack's place.

When I looked around, I frowned. The others were all chatting away happily, their centre of attention being Micheal. Even Thalia. They all hadn't noticed that one of the gang had not even arrived yet.

It was as though they didn't even remember him. All of them were so attracted to Micheal, so excited and happy to see and hang out with him once again, they hadn't noticed that Percy wasn't there.

I frowned at the revelation. Micheal had garnered so much attention, that the gang didn't even know. I scanned the gang carefully once again, and was astounded that almost all of them didn't have a look of confusion on their faces. Not Beckendorf, not Juniper, not Chris and not even Thalia.

The only people who, even though subtly, were confused and looking around as though they were wondering why someone wasn't there were Annabeth and Grover. I saw Grover move towards Annabeth with a questioning look, and figured that I should be there too to discuss it.

"Where's Percy?" I heard Grover ask Annabeth when I reached them.

"Yea, where the hell is that guy?" I asked quizzically. Annabeth sighed.

"I don't know…" Grover's and my eyes widened in shock.

"But…you guys always know where the other one is!" Grover exclaimed in a hushed voice, as though he was afraid the others would hear him. It wasn't an issue, though, as they were so deep in conversation with Micheal to actually notice. Annabeth stared at Grover in bewilderment.

"Why would you say that?" She asked. We both stared at her in astonishment.

"You…seriously don't know?" I asked her in disbelief. She frowned and shook her head.

"Absolutely no idea why I should know where he is." Annabeth said, her gray, stormy eyes filled with confusion.

"Well…it's just 'cause you and him are always together….and you guys practically are inseperable…" Grover muttered. Annabeth looked at him weirdly.

"Huh?" She asked, clueless. I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

"Just think about your relationship with Percy, and when you are NOT with him." I told her. She stared at me for a second or two, then her eyes glazed over as she thought.

"…Oh." She simply said when she was done. Grover and I both face-palmed at that.

"For two years, and you don't even know that you're seen together three quarters of the time…" Grover murmured. I shook my head incredulously.

"Y'know, id we hadn't known better, we would say that you two are already a couple!" I informed her, which caused her to choke on her own saliva and go into a coughing fit.

"What…the…hell…" she said in between gasps. I looked at her, worried but also slightly amused by her reaction. She had a light blush on her cheeks, which made my suspicion grew.

"I have no feelings for him in that way. He's my best friend, for gods' sakes!" She argued. We both snickered at that.

"Well, anyway, back to serious business. Why isn't Percy here? Do you know anything about it?" I asked her. She frowned, and glared at the ground, as though she was contemplating over something that was very big and very serious.

"First, answer me this. If you had a choice, who would you pick? Micheal or Percy?" She asked us, her voice serious. We were both slightly taken aback by the sudden question.

"…I can't really say…" I muttered. "They're both great friends, and have their own ups and downs. But really, they're both awesome." I concluded. Grover nodded in agreement. She stayed quiet for a moment, and then spoke up.

"Which do you trust more?" She asked. We both frowned at the next weird question, but shrugged.

"They're both trustworthy." We said. She sighed, and her shoulders sagged, as though she had finally come to a decision over an important matter.

"I'm trusting you guys then. Don't, and I repeat, DON'T tell this to anyone else." She said, glaring at us like a tigress at its prey. We both nodded quickly, a little scared to defy her. She nodded, and took in a deep breath.

"I don't exactly know why, but Percy really hates Micheal now. An I think it has something to do with Rachel." She said in one breath. We both stared at her, our minds trying to process the newly revealed, impossible information. Percy and Micheal…were not friends anymore?

But that explained a lot too. About why Percy didn't talk to Micheal. Why he wasn't here. And Rachel.

"Also…I find it really disturbing to know that Micheal could just so easily replace the absence of Percy." Annabeth stated. We both thought carefully about her words, and reflected over it.

For the rest of the walk to Jack's place, we lagged behind the rest, each of us deep in our own thoughts.